There are many devices for dispensing fluids from a hand-held container suitable for the purpose for which they were made. Unfortunately, most of these devices are difficult to assemble and equally difficult to disassemble if one wishes to refill the container or if one desires to clean the same. Additionally, most of these devices are made of many components, thus further increasing the cost of making the same. Finally, these devices generally require the use of ball check valves, which do not always function as desired. Thus, they may lose their shape, or a coating may form thereon from the contents of the container, and their ability to function properly is severly impaired.
Fluid dispensing devices of many kinds are known. Thus, Hagstrom in U.S. Pat. No. 1,862,083, dated June 7, 1932, discloses a force feed oil can employing a piston and cylindrical element, in which a ball check valve is mounted, for forcing a quantity of oil therefrom when a lever mechanism is actuated. In U.S. Pat. No. 1,865,990 to Wilcox, dated July 5, 1932, there is disclosed an oil can containing a pumping mechanism comprising a barrel extending longitudinally therein, a ball check valve controlling flow through said barrel and an inlet tube depending from said barrel for driving oil into said barrel. Williams in U.S. Pat. No. 1,915,343, dated June 27, 1933, discloses an oil can having a pumping unit disposed therein wherein the stem or plunger thereof is tubular and reciprocates with the pump when actuated by the finger-operated lever. A number of ball check valves are employed. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,048,142, dated July 21, 1936, Santurello discloses a fluid dispensing device comprising a piston and cylinder mechanism using ball check valves disposed within the container operable by handle or gripping members disposed on the outside of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 2,061,476 to Paull, dated Nov. 17, 1936, discloses a hand oiler having an integral connection of a pumping mechanism and spout with a rocking trigger, using a ball check valve. Miller in U.S. Pat. No. 2,431,881, dated Dec. 2, 1947, discloses a unitary handle and screw top for an oil can. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,473,696 to Anderson, dated June 21, 1949, there is disclosed a hand oiler comprising a container, a cap therefor, a pump conduit assembly extending downwardly into the container and a complicated pump mechanism located within the container using a number of ball check valves. Perry et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,556, dated May 23, 1972, relate to a hand pump oiler comprising a fixed piston having a port therethrough connected to the oiler spout, and a movable cylinder, provided with a disc-shaped valve, that slides over the piston to pump oil through the spout. U.S. Pat. No. 4,458,711, to Flider, dated July 10, 1984 discloses the use of reed valves in a vent valve apparatus for venting fluid containers.